Visible index device



Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES Ladl PATENT FFICE.

VINFIELD A.. HARDY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW' YORK.

.VISIBLE ENDE-X DEVICE.

Application filed May 12, 1921. Serial No. 468,996.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VVINFIELD A. HARDY, a citizen of the United States,and resident 0f Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Visible IndexDevices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in visible index devices such asare now well known to bookkeepers and others accustomed to the keepingof records.

Essentially these devices consist of suitable carrying plates mountedfor convenient handling, and each being adapted to removably support anumber of what may be termed reference slips. The plates are usuallyprovided with index tabs and the reference slips of each plate containnames or other data following under the head of the title appearing onthe index tabs.

Various means have been heretofore proposed for the construction andsupport of the carrying plates and for the construction of thereferences slips, all endeavoring to provide means for containing thegreatest number of reference slips in the least space and in the mosteasily accessible manner. This same object is sought to be attained bythe present improvements.

A further object of the present improvements is to provide an improvedform of reference slip.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less speciiic thanthose referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed outin the course of the following description of the elements,combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles,constituting the invention, and the scope of protection contemplatedwill be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as a part of thisspecification, and in which T have shown merely a preferred form ofembodiment of the invention:

Figure l is a diagrammatic top plan view of a device constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic front elevational view of the structure seenin Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view illustrating the manner in whichthe guides are formed for supporting the carrying plates. l

Figure 4C is a perspective view illustrating one of the carrying platesconstructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 5 isan enlarged perspective view illustrating the manner ofconstructing the reference slips.

Figure 6 is an end view of the structure Fig. 5, illustrating the mannerin which the paper pieces are applied, and Figure 7 is a transversesectional view illustrating the manner of supporting the reference slipsupon the carrying plate.

Referring to the drawings for describing in detail the structure thereinillustrated, the reference character L indicates a casing. This may bemade of any suitable material but preferably is constructed of sheetmetal and is shaped to provide two sets, as l and 2, of stalls 3, saidsets being arranged in converging relation, as clearly seen in Fig. 1.

Each stall is adapted to contain one carrying plate 4c. Said stalls maybe defined in any appropriate manner but preferably the sheet metalbottom wall 5 and sheet metal top wall 6 of the case is corrugated. inthe manner as clearly seen in Fig. 3, a corrugation of the bottom walland an opposing corrugation of the top Wall serving together to form onestall or guideway into which one carrying plate may readily slide and beheld. i

The corrugations of the bottom wall preferably extend continuouslybetween the two sets of stalls, as at 7, and thus serve as guides forthe carrying plates after said carrying plates have been slid out of thestalls.

In using this device the operator takes a position in front of thedevice so that his view of it is as seen in Fig. 2, and in order thatthis view may more readily include the index tabs 8 of all of thecarrying plates, it is a feature of this invention to so shape thecasing L that the stalls and consequently the carrying plates and indextabs are arranged echelon; that is to say, that said sets of stallsconverge backwardly toward each other thus making the nearer index tabsoft set in all instances so that those behind can be more readily seenand read.

When the operator desires to examine any particular carrying plate hehas simply to locate it by its index tab and then to slide ithorizontally out of its stall and into the space between the two sets ofstalls in which position he can readily examine the data, as 9,appearing on any one, or all, of the refe1`- ence slips carried by theparticular carrying plate. After the inspection has been completed, thecarrying plate can be as readilyslid back into its stall.

In order that the carrying plates may not be accidentally drawn entirelyout of their respective stalls `a suitable retaining device may beprovided, and for this purpose the drawing illustrates as an example anarrangement including a lug, as 10, formed adjacent the rear edge ofeach carrying frame and adapted to engage against an obstructing lug 11depending` from the top wall 6 of the stall.

The carrying plates may consist of one or more sections, as 12, 13 and14, said sections, where more than one is used, being held together bya' suitable frame 15 which in the present instance is shown to consistmerely of a length of heavy wire bent into rectangular form and havingthe sections 12, '13 and lt soldered thereinto, as at 16. The upper andlower leads 17 of this wire frame constitute admirable runners to slidewithin the corrugations, or stalls, of the casing. The front verticallead 18 constitutes a proper protection for the adjacent edge of thesection 14 and a convenient support for attaching the index tab 8, whilethe rear vertical lead 19 serves as an abutment to engage the rear wall2O of the casing for limiting inward movement of the carrying plate. Theleads 17 may'extend any suitable distance beyond the rear edge 21 of thesection 12 so as to maintain proper guiding engagement within the stallswhen the carrying plate is withdrawn for inspection.

The reference slips, as seen in Fig. 5, consist of a strip of paper 22and a holder 23. The holder is preferably made from a shee't of' thinspring metal bent at its midpoint to provide two legs, as 2li and 25,lapping each other and adapted to grip the paper between them.

In using this device the paper, which preferably has previously hadappropriate data written thereon by typewriter, is slipped into positionbetween the legs 24 and 25', as seen in Fig. 5, and then the protrudingportion of the strip is folded about the two legs in the manner asindicated in Fig. 6, the fold being, of course, made so that thetypewritten data will appear upon one of the exposed faces, as forinstance upon the face 26.

After the paper has been properly folded, the device is then slippedinto position with its oposite ends engaging beneath the overhangingiiange portions 27 of the carrying plate, or rather of one of thesections of the carrying plate, as seen in Fig. 7

Due tothe resilient nature'of the material from which the'holder 23 isformed, it is possible to insert, or remove, any one ofthese referenceslips by bowing upwardly the central portion thereof sufficiently torelease one end from beneath the adjacent iange'27.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the following claims, it is intended that all mattercontained` inthe above descrition, or shown in the accompanyingdrawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A reference slip carrying plate forvisible index devices comprising al plurality of separately formedsections, each of said sec'- tions comprising means adapting it tocontain a plurality of reference slips, and a connecting frame for saidsections consisting of a single piece of wire extending around saidsections and being fixed to the end edge portions of'said sections.

2. A reference slip for visible index de vices comprising a strip ofsuitable material folded upon itself topprovide two legs, and a recordbearing strip having a portion inserted between said legs and anotherlportion wrappedl about said legs.

3. A reference slip for visible index devices comprising a strip ofspring metal bent upon itself' to provide'two legs, a strip of lpaperhaving one edger portion inserted between said legs aiid having itsremaining portion wrapped about said legs.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

VVI'NFIELD A. HARDY.

